Wall Isolating Tiger Habitat Is Shorter Than Zoos Advise

CAROLYN MARSHALL

Friday

Dec 28, 2007 at 4:05 AM

The director of the San Francisco Zoo, where a Siberian tiger killed a teenager and mauled two men, said that the concrete wall surrounding the area where the animal had been held was shorter than the recommended national standard.

SAN FRANCISCO — The director of the San Francisco Zoo, where a Siberian tiger killed a teenager and mauled two men on Tuesday, said Thursday that the concrete wall surrounding the area where the animal had been held was 12 feet 5 inches tall, nearly 4 feet shorter than the recommended national standard.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a professional zoological organization that establishes “acceptable standards” for animal facilities, recommends that the fortress around a tiger exhibit be 16 feet 4 inches tall.

Until Thursday, the zoo director, Manuel A. Mollinedo, said he believed the Lion House, which includes the tiger habitat, was surrounded by an 18-foot-tall wall. But in rechecking the habitat’s measurements during the zoo’s investigation, officials discovered the wall was much shorter. They also miscalculated the size of a moat — originally thought to be 20 feet wide and 16 feet deep. The moat is 33 feet wide and 12 feet 5 inches deep.

“In retrospect, it wasn’t sufficient,” Mr. Mollinedo said of the wall. “But prior to this incident, I felt very comfortable that the exhibit was safe.”

Mr. Mollinedo said, however, that the zoo was fully accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and that it had passed all regular association inspections. No authority, he said, had ever expressed concern over the height of the exterior walls or the depth of the moat.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture, which enforces regulations for animal care in captive settings under the Animal Welfare Act, opened a separate investigation on Thursday into the mauling and the tiger grotto, which was built in 1939 and has undergone only a handful of improvements.

The police and zoo officials are also continuing to investigate how the 4-year-old, 300-pound tiger, known as Tatiana, escaped from its grotto shortly after the zoo’s closing at 5 p.m. and killed Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, and injured two brothers, ages 19 and 23. The tiger was killed by three shots fired by four police officers.

Tatiana’s escape from the tiger habitat is the first time a big cat has gotten loose and killed a zoo patron, officials said.

To increase safety, zoo officials said they planned to install surveillance cameras and “hotwire” fencing in the Lion House, which will be closed until improvements are in place.

The zoo will also remain closed Friday, when members of a “species survival plan program” from the zoological association and other experts will examine the habitat.

“We are seeking solid advice as to how high the fencing should be and what we can do to modify the exhibit,” Mr. Mollinedo said. “I believe a lot of zoos are now evaluating their exhibits.”

“There is concern here, is the zoo safe?” the zoo director added. “I’m telling people that when we reopen, I will honestly be able to say, ‘It is totally safe.’ It may not be aesthetic but it is going to be safe for visitors and the animal.”

Few new details were revealed Thursday at a briefing for reporters. The San Francisco police chief, Heather Fong, gave the sequence of events, which began when the three victims gathered outside the tiger exhibit at closing time, 5 p.m. At 5:07, police were called to investigate a disturbance, and 19 minutes later, Mr. Sousa and Tatiana were dead.

Officials said they thought Tatiana first attacked one of the brothers, both of whom remain hospitalized, prompting the other brother and Mr. Sousa to yell and scream, in an effort to distract the tiger.

“The tiger let go of the first victim,” Chief Fong said, “and then started to turn toward one of the other victims who was standing there. “The first victim and the brother saw the tiger grab on to the victim who died.”

Contradicting local news reports, the police said Thursday that no shoes or blood were found inside the exhibit. But the police did find “a shoe print on the railing” around the den, Chief Fong said. Big cat experts have said Tatiana must have been taunted and provoked to attack.

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